Manama: A motion filed by a lawmaker to quiz the foreign minister over Kuwait’s participation in the military operations in Yemen to restore state legitimacy is doomed to fail, fellow MPs have said.
MP Abdul Hameed Dashti on Monday shocked the parliament by filing the motion to have Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid respond on four topics.
The lawmaker said that he wanted the minister to give answers about Kuwait’s participation in the Storm of Resolve Operations in Yemen, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) security pact, the neglect of Kuwaitis’ rights abroad and not providing them with proper protection, and putting pressure on freedoms while tarnishing the international reputation of Kuwait.
Adel Al Khorafi, the Deputy Speaker, said that he had received from Dashti a formal request to quiz the minister and that the motion would be put up for discussion on the parliament floor on May 19.
Under the parliament bylaws, the minister can request a two-week postponement of the debate, Al Khorafi said, adding that he had informed the prime minister and the foreign minister about the motion.
However, the move by Dashti was rejected outright by fellow lawmakers, with some of them charging that the motion to quiz the minister had been suggested from abroad, local daily Al Seyassah reported on Tuesday.
Dashti said that quizzing the minister was not a “luxury option” and that it was his constitutional duty to file the motion for the sake of protecting the nation from aggression and humiliation and defending the institutions and the political regime of the state.”
“Practical facts from the past indicate the inability of the minister to deal with the major sovereign and patriotic issues,” he said, quoted by the daily. “Deplorably, the government accepts cases filed by other countries against Kuwaitis, and currently, there are 25 Kuwaitis, including former and sitting lawmakers, who are targeted in cases filed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain,” he said.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have contacted the Kuwaiti foreign ministry for legal action against Dashti, known for his open support to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, for targeting both countries in remarks and statements on traditional and social media.
However, several lawmakers promptly condemned the attempt to quiz the minister, saying that it was seeking to undermine national unity.
Al Seyassah said that 20 lawmakers held a meeting on Monday evening to discuss ways to halt the quizzing motion.
MP Askar Al Enezi said the quizzing topics were “absolutely not acceptable at any time, but especially now” and that the Kuwaiti parliament would never accept abusing or insulting any other GCC country.
“I have met Dashti and I tried to make him change his mind about the quizzing, but he insisted on going ahead with it,” Al Enezi said. “I explained to him that the questions did not make sense and that the current situation demanded that we stand together and united behind the political leaders, but he refused,” he said.
MPs Majed Mousa and Mansour Al Dhufairi said that the quizzing was “sectarian and aimed to cause fissure within the national unity of the country,” while MP Mohammad Tana said that Kuwait’s participation in the military operations in Yemen was not a violation of the constitution as claimed by Dashti.
Lawmaker Mohammad Al Barrak said that Kuwaitis supported their country’s participation in the operations in Yemen and that the international community endorsed the move to restore legitimacy in Yemen.
